Baratunde Thurston At CMDC 2015: The Power Of Truth In Storytelling

07/20/2015 12:08 EDT
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Updated
07/20/2015 12:59 EDT

The Huffington Post Canada

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North America’s top media minds converged in Toronto on May 5 for the 2015 Canadian Media Director’s Conference, “Marketing in the Age of Wonder.” Their message: true, human content is just as important as innovative media delivery.

Consumer brands have always tried to tell a story about themselves in human terms, from the Marlboro Man to “the Most Interesting Man in the World.” In the era of real-time online dialogue between companies and their consumers, (Rainbow Oreo anyone?) many marketers are taking a “scorched earth” approach to social media, using every platform and every new meme as an excuse to wallpaper their feeds with logos and products.

For Baratunde Thurston, writer, comedian and co-founder of Cultivated Wit, a brand story needs to be authentic before it’s worth telling. He sat down with Huffington Post to share his thoughts about the future of narrative in digital marketing.